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Biker Boyz

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OPENS 27 JUNE, CERT 12A, 111 MINS Put The Fast And The Furious on two wheels and you'll have this laughably po-faced tale of illegal street-racing among LA's biker fraternity. Derek Luke plays Kid, a young speed freak eager to dethrone "King of Cali" Smoke (Laurence Fishburne). To do so, he must set up his own club (the titular Biker Boyz), working his way up the racing hierarchy while keeping true to his late dad's mantra that you should "burn rubber, not your soul". Despite Reggie Rock Bythewood's flashy direction, this dopey yarn is more Vespa than Kawasaki. Mindful of the homoerotic implications of leather-clad males fetishising throbbing machines, By the wood assigns Luke a tattooist girlfriend to jump his bones and etch a silly symbol on his chest. Mercifully there are enough stunts, trick riding and 100mph wipe-outs to make up for the slack script. Even so, you may find yourself wondering where Fishburne found a bike big enough to handle his flab.

OPENS 27 JUNE, CERT 12A, 111 MINS

Put The Fast And The Furious on two wheels and you’ll have this laughably po-faced tale of illegal street-racing among LA’s biker fraternity. Derek Luke plays Kid, a young speed freak eager to dethrone “King of Cali” Smoke (Laurence Fishburne). To do so, he must set up his own club (the titular Biker Boyz), working his way up the racing hierarchy while keeping true to his late dad’s mantra that you should “burn rubber, not your soul”.

Despite Reggie Rock Bythewood’s flashy direction, this dopey yarn is more Vespa than Kawasaki. Mindful of the homoerotic implications of leather-clad males fetishising throbbing machines, By the wood assigns Luke a tattooist girlfriend to jump his bones and etch a silly symbol on his chest. Mercifully there are enough stunts, trick riding and 100mph wipe-outs to make up for the slack script. Even so, you may find yourself wondering where Fishburne found a bike big enough to handle his flab.

S1mOne

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Another self-regarding screenplay from Andrew (The Truman Show, Gattaca) Niccol, but Al Pacino is on hand to paper over the concept's cracks. A director whose prima donna (Winona Ryder) walks out, he simulates virtual actress S1mOne ("hmm, less Streep, more Bacall"), who becomes a global superstar. Could go further, but the comedy's smart and the acting, ironically, is great.

Another self-regarding screenplay from Andrew (The Truman Show, Gattaca) Niccol, but Al Pacino is on hand to paper over the concept’s cracks. A director whose prima donna (Winona Ryder) walks out, he simulates virtual actress S1mOne (“hmm, less Streep, more Bacall”), who becomes a global superstar. Could go further, but the comedy’s smart and the acting, ironically, is great.

The Bruck Stops Here

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With his late partner, sleaze legend Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer pioneered the high-concept blockbuster with its shiny machinery, big stunts, sexy laydeez and pounding rock soundtrack. Since Simpson imploded on the toilet in 1996, Bruckheimer has delighted in cherry-picking indie stars and turning them into his screen bitches, buying off their artistic principles like 10-dollar crack whores. Witness John Cusack, John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi sucking Hollywood cock in the fabulous airborne hijack thrill-ride Con Air. Or Christopher Eccleston, for fuck's sake, in the vacuously enjoyable Gone In 60 Seconds. Nicolas Cage stars in both, as well as the enjoyable Alcatraz shoot-'em-up The Rock. Tony Scott's grainy Enemy Of The State is also a great conspiracy yarn with echoes of Coppola classic The Conversation, although his earlier submarine drama Crimson Tide is more routine. The only real turkeys among this 10-disc set are the screamingly homoerotic Bruce Willis sci-fi romp Armageddon and the windy wartime romance Pearl Harbor, both directed by Michael Bay?a prize jerk famous for parking his Ferrari in disabled parking spaces?with all the subtlety of a turd sandwich.

With his late partner, sleaze legend Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer pioneered the high-concept blockbuster with its shiny machinery, big stunts, sexy laydeez and pounding rock soundtrack. Since Simpson imploded on the toilet in 1996, Bruckheimer has delighted in cherry-picking indie stars and turning them into his screen bitches, buying off their artistic principles like 10-dollar crack whores. Witness John Cusack, John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi sucking Hollywood cock in the fabulous airborne hijack thrill-ride Con Air. Or Christopher Eccleston, for fuck’s sake, in the vacuously enjoyable Gone In 60 Seconds. Nicolas Cage stars in both, as well as the enjoyable Alcatraz shoot-’em-up The Rock. Tony Scott’s grainy Enemy Of The State is also a great conspiracy yarn with echoes of Coppola classic The Conversation, although his earlier submarine drama Crimson Tide is more routine.

The only real turkeys among this 10-disc set are the screamingly homoerotic Bruce Willis sci-fi romp Armageddon and the windy wartime romance Pearl Harbor, both directed by Michael Bay?a prize jerk famous for parking his Ferrari in disabled parking spaces?with all the subtlety of a turd sandwich.

High Society

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Musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, with heiress Grace Kelly being romantically pursued on the eve of her wedding by ex-hubbie Bing Crosby and dashing reporter Frank Sinatra. If the casting somehow lacks the faultless pizzazz of the original, the score of dazzling Cole Porter tunes more than makes up for it.

Musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, with heiress Grace Kelly being romantically pursued on the eve of her wedding by ex-hubbie Bing Crosby and dashing reporter Frank Sinatra. If the casting somehow lacks the faultless pizzazz of the original, the score of dazzling Cole Porter tunes more than makes up for it.

Donnie Darko

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A recent landmark in US indie cinema, writer/director Richard Kelly's feature debut is a mind-warping rites-of-passage tale with a striking central performance from Jake Gyllenhaal as the troubled teen trying to make sense of time travel conundrums in smalltown USA circa 1988. Exceptional.

A recent landmark in US indie cinema, writer/director Richard Kelly’s feature debut is a mind-warping rites-of-passage tale with a striking central performance from Jake Gyllenhaal as the troubled teen trying to make sense of time travel conundrums in smalltown USA circa 1988. Exceptional.

L.I.E.

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Brian Cox delivers a towering performance as a paedophile ex-Marine in director Michael Cuesta's finely judged and exquisitely filmed drama from 2001. Co-starring screen novice Paul Franklin Dano as the teenager lured into Cox's orbit, L.I.E. refuses to make simplistic moral judgements in its exploration of this topical yet taboo subject.

Brian Cox delivers a towering performance as a paedophile ex-Marine in director Michael Cuesta’s finely judged and exquisitely filmed drama from 2001. Co-starring screen novice Paul Franklin Dano as the teenager lured into Cox’s orbit, L.I.E. refuses to make simplistic moral judgements in its exploration of this topical yet taboo subject.

Shinjuku Triad Society

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The first in Takashi Miike's career-making Triad Society Trilogy. Set in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, rogue cop Kippei Shiina puts himself between local yakuza and a gay Taiwanese mob; cue cocaine-fuelled blow jobs, anal rape and old ladies having their eyeballs plucked out. A Hollywood remake seems unlikely.

The first in Takashi Miike’s career-making Triad Society Trilogy. Set in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, rogue cop Kippei Shiina puts himself between local yakuza and a gay Taiwanese mob; cue cocaine-fuelled blow jobs, anal rape and old ladies having their eyeballs plucked out. A Hollywood remake seems unlikely.

Light Sleeper

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Paul Schrader's simmering 1991 study of a drug dealer's midlife crisis remains the script closest to his own heart. A maturer Travis Bickle, Willem Dafoe's loser is confused when "employer" Susan Sarandon goes legit, and panic-stricken when an ex-girlfriend dies and gunplay's required. Meditative rather than action-packed, it's grown over time.

Paul Schrader’s simmering 1991 study of a drug dealer’s midlife crisis remains the script closest to his own heart. A maturer Travis Bickle, Willem Dafoe’s loser is confused when “employer” Susan Sarandon goes legit, and panic-stricken when an ex-girlfriend dies and gunplay’s required. Meditative rather than action-packed, it’s grown over time.

Changing Lanes

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A punchy and intelligent tale, co-written by Michael Tolkin, about an unethical yuppie lawyer (Ben Affleck) locked in a battle of wills with a troubled divorcee (Samuel L Jackson). Toni Collette and Sydney Pollack lead the heavyweight supporting cast, and director Roger Michell delivers a bracing state-of-the-nation bulletin in the vein of Falling Down.

A punchy and intelligent tale, co-written by Michael Tolkin, about an unethical yuppie lawyer (Ben Affleck) locked in a battle of wills with a troubled divorcee (Samuel L Jackson). Toni Collette and Sydney Pollack lead the heavyweight supporting cast, and director Roger Michell delivers a bracing state-of-the-nation bulletin in the vein of Falling Down.

Guilty By Suspicion

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Veteran producer Irwin Winkler's 1990 directorial debut, recreating the paranoid climate that enveloped early-'50s Hollywood during the anti-communist witch-hunts. Robert De Niro is the fictitious RKO director watching lives, morals and ethics come apart under the strain. A clear-eyed and heartfelt history lesson, with a Martin Scorsese cameo that's a barely disguised portrait of blacklist exile Joseph Losey.

Veteran producer Irwin Winkler’s 1990 directorial debut, recreating the paranoid climate that enveloped early-’50s Hollywood during the anti-communist witch-hunts. Robert De Niro is the fictitious RKO director watching lives, morals and ethics come apart under the strain. A clear-eyed and heartfelt history lesson, with a Martin Scorsese cameo that’s a barely disguised portrait of blacklist exile Joseph Losey.

The American Friend

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Wim Wenders may be struggling to land a gig these days, but this 1977 noir thriller was his big-screen breakthrough. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel (and remade this month as Ripley's Game, see p145) it finds Dennis Hopper for once understated as art dealer Tom Ripley, who persuades dying Berliner Bruno Ganz to become a hitman.

Wim Wenders may be struggling to land a gig these days, but this 1977 noir thriller was his big-screen breakthrough. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel (and remade this month as Ripley’s Game, see p145) it finds Dennis Hopper for once understated as art dealer Tom Ripley, who persuades dying Berliner Bruno Ganz to become a hitman.

Cinema Paradiso—Collector’s Edition

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Giuseppe Tornatore's Oscar-winning ode to cinema revolves around a famous film director returning to his native Sicilian village to attend the funeral of a local cinema projectionist who'd befriended him as a young boy and cultivated his love of film. Pure magic.

Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning ode to cinema revolves around a famous film director returning to his native Sicilian village to attend the funeral of a local cinema projectionist who’d befriended him as a young boy and cultivated his love of film. Pure magic.

Rush

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A pair of '70s cops, undercover, become miserably hooked on smack in this impressively unflinching '92 drama. Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh star, both grittily serving notice that they're prepared to sweat, shiver and sacrifice goody-goody mainstream careers. The despair's draining, but its influence was to prove widespread.

A pair of ’70s cops, undercover, become miserably hooked on smack in this impressively unflinching ’92 drama. Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh star, both grittily serving notice that they’re prepared to sweat, shiver and sacrifice goody-goody mainstream careers. The despair’s draining, but its influence was to prove widespread.

Lenny

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Bob Fosse surprised everyone in '74, showing there was more to his dark vision than nimble dance steps. He riffs permissively on Lenny Bruce's stand-up routines (which were never routine), and Dustin Hoffman's rarely been bolder. Somehow nominated for loads of Oscars while railing against the establishment's buffoonery.

Bob Fosse surprised everyone in ’74, showing there was more to his dark vision than nimble dance steps. He riffs permissively on Lenny Bruce’s stand-up routines (which were never routine), and Dustin Hoffman’s rarely been bolder. Somehow nominated for loads of Oscars while railing against the establishment’s buffoonery.

The Swordsman

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Ling (Samuel Hui) and his tomboy sister are charged with keeping a sacred scroll from the clutches of their self-serving Sifu and the scarier-than-they-sound Royal Eunuchs. With multiple directors and more characters than it can handle, the cracks show, but the swordplay and comedic touch proved popular enough to spawn two sequels.

Ling (Samuel Hui) and his tomboy sister are charged with keeping a sacred scroll from the clutches of their self-serving Sifu and the scarier-than-they-sound Royal Eunuchs. With multiple directors and more characters than it can handle, the cracks show, but the swordplay and comedic touch proved popular enough to spawn two sequels.

Tortilla Soup

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Maria Ripoll's handsome 2001 remake of Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman is anchored by the highly watchable Hector Elizondo as the widowed kitchen maestro with three wayward daughters and a frisky neighbour (Raquel Welch) who clearly wants to turn him into a naked chef. The plot has been sweetened a little, but the performances are fine and the photography sumptuous.

Maria Ripoll’s handsome 2001 remake of Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman is anchored by the highly watchable Hector Elizondo as the widowed kitchen maestro with three wayward daughters and a frisky neighbour (Raquel Welch) who clearly wants to turn him into a naked chef. The plot has been sweetened a little, but the performances are fine and the photography sumptuous.

Laissez-Passer

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Bertrand Tavernier's epic (almost three hours) looks back at France's period of Nazi occupation from a movie-lover's perspective. A young screenwriter tries to subvert the German-controlled studios while juggling three women, and a director doubles as a Resistance fighter. It's a beautifully detailed and honest piece.

Bertrand Tavernier’s epic (almost three hours) looks back at France’s period of Nazi occupation from a movie-lover’s perspective. A young screenwriter tries to subvert the German-controlled studios while juggling three women, and a director doubles as a Resistance fighter. It’s a beautifully detailed and honest piece.

Get The Beards In

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It's more like a home movie than a modern music documentary. But that's the charm of Grateful Dawg. Jerry Garcia and mandolin player David Grisman first met on the San Fran folk scene in the '60s and remained friends for over three decades, getting together to play acoustic bluegrass music whenever Garcia's band commitments permitted. Directed by Grisman's daughter Gillian, Grateful Dawg chronicles their partnership through live concert footage and, even better, relaxed and intimate jam sessions in Grisman's living room. Their repertoire is vast, from old Bill Monroe tunes to Dead classics such as "Friend Of The Devil", via bluegrass versions of reggae favourites such as Jimmy Cliff's "Sitting In Limbo". The playing is intuitive but earthy and their spirits became so kindred that they even ended up looking alike, provoking the endearing nickname "two beards of the same feather". The music is augmented by interviews that are moving rather than illuminating, as Grisman and others talk about what Garcia meant to them and their sense of loss following his death in 1995. But it's the music that is the real star here?full of an easy and timeless charm that exists for no other reason than the shared joy of playing together.

It’s more like a home movie than a modern music documentary. But that’s the charm of Grateful Dawg. Jerry Garcia and mandolin player David Grisman first met on the San Fran folk scene in the ’60s and remained friends for over three decades, getting together to play acoustic bluegrass music whenever Garcia’s band commitments permitted.

Directed by Grisman’s daughter Gillian, Grateful Dawg chronicles their partnership through live concert footage and, even better, relaxed and intimate jam sessions in Grisman’s living room. Their repertoire is vast, from old Bill Monroe tunes to Dead classics such as “Friend Of The Devil”, via bluegrass versions of reggae favourites such as Jimmy Cliff’s “Sitting In Limbo”. The playing is intuitive but earthy and their spirits became so kindred that they even ended up looking alike, provoking the endearing nickname “two beards of the same feather”.

The music is augmented by interviews that are moving rather than illuminating, as Grisman and others talk about what Garcia meant to them and their sense of loss following his death in 1995. But it’s the music that is the real star here?full of an easy and timeless charm that exists for no other reason than the shared joy of playing together.

The Fall—Perverted By Language – Bis

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The Fall are here brilliantly captured in their early-'80s heyday. First released on video in 1983, this is an amateurish but energetic send-up of pop promos, with Mark E Smith on hilarious form, whether skulking around an empty football ground, miming into a beer can on the video for "Kicker Conspiracy", or dancing like a basket case for "Eat Y'Self Fitter".

The Fall are here brilliantly captured in their early-’80s heyday. First released on video in 1983, this is an amateurish but energetic send-up of pop promos, with Mark E Smith on hilarious form, whether skulking around an empty football ground, miming into a beer can on the video for “Kicker Conspiracy”, or dancing like a basket case for “Eat Y’Self Fitter”.

The Strange World Of Northern Soul

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This six-DVD set's total running time of 24 hours is enough in itself to set alarm bells ringing. Footage of northern soul in its '70s prime is almost non-existent. Cameras only ever went inside the legendary Wigan Casino once for a documentary (1977's This England), which isn't included. What does that leave us with? Talking heads padded out with the shittest home-made videos you've ever seen. And over a hundred northern soul artistes as they are now, miming to re-recordings of their hits. One star for unintentional comedy value.

This six-DVD set’s total running time of 24 hours is enough in itself to set alarm bells ringing. Footage of northern soul in its ’70s prime is almost non-existent. Cameras only ever went inside the legendary Wigan Casino once for a documentary (1977’s This England), which isn’t included. What does that leave us with? Talking heads padded out with the shittest home-made videos you’ve ever seen. And over a hundred northern soul artistes as they are now, miming to re-recordings of their hits. One star for unintentional comedy value.

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